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‘It is time to help people’ – Bai

Date published: May 31 2016

Fijian legend Seremai Bai has promised to contribute to the development and growth of the game in his home country after he announced in March that he will retire from all forms of rugby at the end of the season.

Bai has set up his own projects which focus on giving kids of all ages the opportunity and the correct coaching in order to become world class rugby players in the future.

Bai told the official Leicester Tigers website that he has travelled the world playing the game that he loves and it is now time for him to take all that experience and pass it on to future stars.

“"I have enjoyed 16 years in professional rugby across the world, but now I am going back home to Fiji and it is time to help other people," said Bai.

"This project is a part of my life. When I was young, I always wished that a Fiji player or someone who had played rugby professionally overseas could come to my village to talk about it, to tell us about how they trained, how they got to wear the Fiji jersey or how they got to play the game as a professional. But none of them came."

Bai added that he understands from his own experience the motivation of having an international player giving up and coming talent some much needed words of wisdom.

"I wanted to do that for the people in the villages like me – I know exactly how much it means because I came from those humble beginnings," he said.

Bai will run a rugby academy in his home country alongside his BAI foundation (be an inspiration).

The Fijian has been capped 50 times by the national team and has represented the Pacific Islands on eight occasions. He will end off his career at Leicester after playing for clubs in seven different countries.